Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 34

                                           Hebrews 11:30-31

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

     Rahab was not killed with the disobedient. Wait a second - what could be more sinful than being a madame? Did she not run a house of prostitution and was known as a prostitute which means she sold herself for sex? Is this not a capital offense in the Old Testament? Yet, she is not included among the disobedient. Why is this? First off, I would say that we have to remember that she wasn't under the law like the Israelites were. Like today, I can't expect unsaved people to follow a Christian/Biblical code of conduct. Sinners sin! It's their and our nature. We are all born with a sin nature and all sin whether it be prostitution, lying, stealing, cheating, greed, jealousy, anger, selfishness - all these things separate us from God and deserve judgement. So why is she not numbered among the disobedient? Let's look at her response in Joshua;

 “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ¹¹ When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." 

    When she was faced with the facts about God, she believed and surrendered to the God of Gods while the others trembled yet continued to fight against Him. That's how her disobedience was washed away and her past gone. The other thought is from Deuteronomy 20;

  "When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. ¹¹ If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. ¹² If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. "

   We don't read about it in Joshua but according to the protocol given by Moses to the people in Israel, when they attacked a city they were to offer an opportunity to surrender. It could be that Rahab heard the offer and surrendered. We have recently been studying the unforgivable sin in Mark in Life Group, and the conclusion was that all sins, even running a house of prostitution, are forgivable but what isn't is the rejection of the offer to surrender your life to the completed work of God done to reconcile yourself with Him. In a sense, Rahab surrendered herself to the call of God and was removed in status from the "disobedient", so much so that she was included in the genealogy of Christ.

     Isn't it awesome to know that God no longer views you as "disobedient"? I know we don't feel like that always as we don't always act in obedience but that is how God sees you! What a merciful God He is!